Screenwriter Russell T Davies has remarked on his shock to see Liz Truss making her first speech as Prime Minister at the Tory party conference wearing the same dress as the fictional fascist leader from his dystopian drama Years And Years. He took to social media to draw the comparison.
Russell, 59, shared a side by side photo of the Prime Minister at the Tory Party conference yesterday, October 5, and the fictional populist right-wing Prime Minister Vivienne Rook - played by Emma Thompson - wearing the same outfit. The writer posted the image to Instagram, with the caption: “This is getting weird”.
The dress, called the Forever Dress from Karen Millen, was worn by Emma Thompson’s character as she introduces barbaric UK concentration camps, which she calls “Erstwhile sites”. In the disturbing scene she advises her Government to “let nature take its course” by allowing disease to “control the population of camps”.
Prime Minister Liz Truss was previously seen wearing the dress, which cost around £180 new, to an event in October 2018 - at least eight months before the show Years And Years aired, Big Issue reports. It is a different shade to the red dress worn by the character Vivienne Rook.
Callum Scott Howells, star of It’s A Sin, commented on Russell’s post: “No f***ing WAY.” To which Russell replied: "Isn’t it weird?! Hello you."
Jason Manford added: “That is really odd.” Russell responded: “D’you know, it really is! What are the odds?! Xx.”
Zoe Ball wrote: “OMG the collar’. Ruth Madeley, who played Rosie Lyons in Years And Years, wrote: “SO WEIRD”.
Annie Wallace, who plays Sally St. Claire in Hollyoaks, wrote: “Did... did she do this ACCIDENTALLY... or is her stylist having a laugh?... Absolutely incredible...the SAME dress, exactly.”
Another Instagram user commented: “Oh. My. God. Either that’s a very weird coincidence, you’re doing your best Mystic Meg or it’s a deliberate choice and I don’t know which is weirder.” Whilst another wrote: “Her stylist had to be in on this surely.”